Ducks thump Flames, look ahead to tougher challenges

The Ducks took care of business on Black Friday by defeating the Calgary Flames for the 18th consecutive time at the Honda Center and getting a needed tuneup to their game before opening a demanding stretch of games tonight against the Sharks in San Jose.

Dustin Penner scored two goals, Corey Perry added a goal and an assist and Ryan Getzlaf and Saku Koivu each had two assists as the Ducks overwhelmed the injury-depleted Flames 5-2 in front of a sellout crowd of 17,174.

Friday’s victory was to be expected. After all, the Ducks are 18-7-3 overall and 10-0-1 at home this season. They haven’t lost to the Flames (8-13-4) in Anaheim since a 5-1 defeat on Jan. 19, 2004, the longest winning streak over one opponent in the franchise’s 20-year history.

Calgary played without five of its top players because of injuries.

What happens next might say a great deal about where the Ducks are headed. No question, they have been very good so far this season by hovering at or near the top of the NHL standings from the opening week. What they do tonight against the Sharks and in the following days could be telling.

After visiting San Jose for their 18th away game in 29 contests to start the season, the Ducks return home to face the Kings on Tuesday before hitting the road again to play the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks on Friday and the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.

The Blackhawks, Blues, Sharks, Ducks and Kings held the top five spots in the NHL’s overall standings at the start of business Friday. The Ducks aren’t exactly looking forward to playing as difficult a stretch of games as they will face this season, but they call them curious.

“It’s going to let us know where we are in the next four games,” coach Bruce Boudreau said after the Ducks toyed with the undermanned Flames. “It’ll give us a real good barometer of where we’re at. In that sense, we’re looking forward to seeing where we’re at.”

Koivu’s return from a 15-game absence because of a concussion suffered in an Oct. 27 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets sparked the Ducks. He assisted on defenseman Sami Vatanen’s goal 12:20 into the game and the Ducks were off and skating with a sense of purpose.

Koivu also assisted on Andrew Cogliano’s second-period goal, a laser of a backhander that beat Calgary goaltender Reto Berra and gave the Ducks a 4-1 lead. Unlike a 6-3 loss Tuesday to the Stars in Dallas, the Ducks finished off the third period without the slightest hint of trouble.

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“A lot of our offensive chances come off our forecheck and off the rush,” the 39-year-old Koivu said. “Some nights you’re not going to get results, but if you put the work in and you try to outwork the opponent good things happen.

“It’s fun to play with those two guys (Cogliano and Daniel Winnik). For an older guy like me, when you see two young guys buzzing around and putting the work in, there’s no choice but to join them and try to keep up.”